GUEST OPINION: We all have a role in preventing gun violence

In 2012 alone, our country has seen innocent victims shot and killed in a movie theater, church, shopping mall, hospital, elementary school, and on Christmas Eve while arriving to put out a fire.

By Eric C. Graham

The Herald News, Fall River, MA

By Eric C. Graham

Posted Jan. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 7, 2013 at 7:21 AM

By Eric C. Graham

Posted Jan. 7, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Jan 7, 2013 at 7:21 AM

» Social News

In 2012 alone, our country has seen innocent victims shot and killed in a movie theater, church, shopping mall, hospital, elementary school, and on Christmas Eve while arriving to put out a fire.

The horrific massacre in Sandy Hook Elementary School in nearby Newtown, Conn., which left 28 dead, including 20 children, has led our nation to have a long overdue discussion on how to prevent these tragedies in the future.

There is no simple remedy to this multifactorial problem.

The shootings have sparked calls for stricter gun control, with some calling for a repeal of the 2nd Amendment, and others calling for the arming of guards or school officials in every school in America. A repeal of the 2nd Amendment would be unfair to responsible, legal gun owners, and give the government even more power over us. A call for an armed presence in each school ignores the fact that Columbine High School had a police officer on duty in 1999 during that massacre.

Legislation requiring more lengthy and thorough background checks, banning assault weapons, and requiring gun owners to safeguard their guns, should be enacted. Stricter gun control will not stop all of these tragedies. These killers have no regard for the law; some will illegally acquire guns even with stricter laws. If we can make it more difficult for them, if this prevents even one more unnecessary death, then it should be done.

But as Robert F. Kennedy once said when talking about violence after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., “We cannot vanish it with a program, nor with a resolution.”

Mental health is arguably a more critical area than gun control that needs to be addressed to prevent these tragedies. Many of these killers have mental health issues that are undetected, ignored or mistreated. We need to do a far better job of identifying those who need mental health care, and making it easily accessible for them.

Another way to combat the epidemic of violence in this country requires each and every one of us to look into our hearts and minds and change how we look at and treat each other. If you notice — either in person or on social media — a classmate, coworker, teammate, family member, friend or even a stranger who seems to be sad, lonely, quiet or upset — ask them how they are doing. Ask them if anything is wrong. Mean it. Ask how you can help.

Follow through. Don’t get so lost in life’s routines that you don’t notice or care about those around you who could use a friend to talk to. How many times have each of us, in daily passings, asked how someone was doing and truly cared about the answer? A caring friend or a simple act of kindness can mean the world of difference to someone who might otherwise feel so alone, hopeless or angry at the world that he or she would murder innocent victims.

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I fervently hope that our nation does all that we can to tackle the complex issue of reducing violence in this country. It cannot be faced by government alone; it will take a combination of government and acts of common citizens.

There will always be violence, but if we don’t act to lessen these senseless acts, who will? If not now, when?